At 56, Vardaraj Shetty runs one of the region’s largest home-grown hotel chains. The Ramee Group of Hotels, Resorts and Apartments has more than 30 properties in the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and India as well as a shopping mall in Chennai, although it is keen to divest from the retail sector.
Born in Kundapur, Karnataka, Shetty lost his father when he was 13 and moved to the UAE five years later. Since then, he has put together a portfolio that includes real estate development and hotel management contracting and has more than 5,000 employees. From when he was just a child, the man best known as Raj wanted to have his own hotel. For the past 40 years, he has been building his dream and seeing it come true.
Ramee Group recently announced the 100 percent acquisition of Bahrain’s Ramee Grand Hotel and Spa. Ramee Properties, a unit of Ramee Group, previously owned 40 percent of the property. It has now acquired the remaining 60 percent. The group also revealed plans to develop another five-star property in the kingdom. Estimated to cost more than $18m, the Juffair Views will be a luxurious hotel apartment development.
In 2019, the group plans to open a Ramee Grand Hotel and Spa in Dubai’s Business Bay that is expected to cost $95.2m. Other expansion plans include Oman, where it is looking to add to its three hotels, and India where it intends to increase its portfolio from nine to 17 hotels this year. The group is also looking at Iran.
Follow us on
